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Until the fates prove it's not happening, every time Delmon Young comes up I will announce that he is on an march to 2000 hits and very little value. He's got to be a bit worried that he's gotten such a mediocre contract, especially after his big ALCS and World Series,, so he's working hard. This is his age-27 year. He's primed to have a (relatively) big year -- a .295 average, a SLG-heavy OPS+ in the 110 range, 90-100 RBIs. That's going to get him a three-year deal somewhere stupid, and at the end of that he'll be 31 with 1600 hits and 4 WAR. By then he'll be a crafty veteran who overcame his earlier slackitude (so the story will go), which will mean several years as a part-timer and the 400 extra hits he needs. It's going to happen!

Nope. Young has been above replacement level for only one season in his career. He can't field, he doesn't run, and he hits like a middle infielder. Darin Ruf would surely, surely deserve playing time ahead of him, as would a number of other players in the Phillies system whom I've never heard of. Young is terrible.

Now, Young was kind of good for a season once, and he was once a great prospect. But based on his actual results, Young gives you nothing that a couple dozen guys in AA and AAA can't provide without the baggage and at half the price.

I have no sources on this other than my eyeballs, but Delmon Young looks like a guy who has totally let himself go physically. He looks 35 because he's got a fat gut and a couple chins. His "five tool" talent has reduced down to maybe two or three over his career.

#18 - That must run in the family. His big brother, Dmitri the diabetic, was seen in the off-season leading to his final stint with the Nats imbibing heartily in alcoholic beverages. I understand that this is a big no-no for his diabetic condition. Dmitri definitely went from "almost svelt" the prior season to looking like Santa Claus by the following season.

Was Delmon Young a legitimate #1 overall talent when he was drafted, or was he never really that good?

Young's minor league track record is fantastic, at least to start. He debuted straight into the Sally League at 18 and hit 388/538. The Rays jumped him a level to AA, where he hit 386/582 in a half-season at 19 before being promoted to AAA. His promotion to AAA perhaps signals the birth of the statistical Delm_n we all know, as he hit only 303/447. Still, for the 19-year-old in the International League, that's not bad. Room to grow. He was better the next year (341/474). Then came the major league career.

#18 - That must run in the family. His big brother, Dmitri the diabetic, was seen in the off-season leading to his final stint with the Nats imbibing heartily in alcoholic beverages. I understand that this is a big no-no for his diabetic condition. Dmitri definitely went from "almost svelt" the prior season to looking like Santa Claus by the following season.

Was Delmon Young a legitimate #1 overall talent when he was drafted, or was he never really that good?

He was 9th in OPS in the Sallie League at age 18, everyone above him was older, just 2 other teens, Milledge and Ian Stewart
2 other guys whose eventual MLB performances were disappointing.

Then the next year he was awesome in AA at age 19, second in OPS in the Southern League, right behind Hermida...

I think that prospects are usually judged relative to their "cohort," but that the quality of cohorts can vary- the best guy in one year's cohort may be no better than another year's 5th through 10th...
I think Delmon Young at the time may have been the best guy in his cohort, but maybe just due to random fluctuation, his cohort just happened to be unusually weak, something not evident until one guy after another in that cohort failed to meet expectations-

looking at the Sallie League and Southern League leaders for young guys with production comparable to Young you get a lot of that, Milledge, Stewart, Hermida, Chris Young (hitter not pitcher)
plus you see that he never really developed from the day he entered pro ball, K/BB stagnant, never developed any power beyond what he came into the Sallie League with.

If he'd played MLB from age 18, I'm sure his stat lines would look just like most of his MLB career- he was almost an MLB caliber hitter at ages 18/19, trouble is that for most of his MLB career he's been just that, almost an MLB caliber hitter

I think Delmon Young at the time may have been the best guy in his cohort, but maybe just due to random fluctuation, his cohort just happened to be unusually weak, something not evident until one guy after another in that cohort failed to meet expectations-

_elm_n is a horrendously terrible player. He has two-skills: a strong, accurate arm AND the ability to hit left-handed pitchers who can't throw faster than 86 mph. He makes Raul Ibanez look like Geraldo Parra in the corner outfield as he takes terrible routes and avoids the warning track like the plague. Perhaps the only redeeming thing about _elm_n from his time in MN is that I had multiple friends whose girlfriends bumped into him at Twilight movies. As in, he saw the same Twilight movie more than once. For some reason, that completely cracks me up.

Who in the world imagined this would be his first free agent contract, considering his top 3 prospect rank by Baseball America each year from 2004-2007?

I have been wrong on many many prospects as we all have, but I didn't think Young was going to be much in the majors. Too much hackin'. I was surprised everyone one was so willing to look past that, but he had a shiny batting average and Baseball America was still trying to fight the OBP war at the time.

I have no sources on this other than my eyeballs, but Delmon Young looks like a guy who has totally let himself go physically. He looks 35 because he's got a fat gut and a couple chins.

This is part of what makes me hopeful for him having a long and unproductive career. He's still young enough to be scared straight and become a near-cromulent ballplayer, but not young enough to actually reclaim some of the tools lost to time and Big Macs.

Worst OPS ever, 2000 career hits

That list is missing a few, for some reason. This is everyone with 50% of his time at RF/LF/1B/DH with 2000 hits and an OPS+ of 105 or lower.

EDIT: I can see Young as having the second half of Ruben Sierra's career -- 254/305/428 and 992 hits. That leaves Delmon 53 hits short of 2000. Give him a little more average and fewer walks and he gets very close to the magic number.

The 2002 World junior Championships were in my hometown (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and the US team was loaded with prospects that were about to be drafted, with Young and Milledge the two stars. Looking back now, that team was loaded with future busts: among hitters, Ian Stewart and Jarrod Saltalamacchia are the best. Chris Lubanski was a major bust. Among pitchers, Chad Billingsley and Ian Kennedy did well, but Jeff Allison is a terrible story.

As far as I know, only two other players reached the majors, both from Canada: Adam Loewen and Chris Leroux. Yulieski Gourriel is very good in Cuba I believe. Japan and DR did not participate. I don't recognize any names from South Korea, Venezuela and Panama.

and at the end of that he'll be 31 with 1600 hits and 4 WAR. By then he'll be a crafty veteran who overcame his earlier slackitude (so the story will go), which will mean several years as a part-timer and the 400 extra hits he needs. It's going to happen!

The gold standard for this is Doc Cramer: 2700 hits, 4.2 WAR. The next lowest WAR for 2000+ hits is Charlie Grim with 2300 hits and 10.6 WAR. The next worst WAR for 2700+ its is 11.8 for Bill Buckner

It's an exaggeration - but not much of one, IMO - to say that what happened to Delmon Young was Elijah Dukes.

Young and Dukes were teammates at Charleston in 2004 until Dukes was promoted (somewhat mysteriously, since he wasn't playing particularly well) to Bakersfield in mid-season. In 2005 they were teammates again at Montgomery; this time it was Young that was promoted in mid-season and Dukes who stayed behind even though Dukes was probably deserving of a promotion as well, certainly more so than a year earlier. In 2006 Young and Dukes were together again in Durham, along with BJ Upton, and on the field the three of them were (a) inseparable and (b) completely separated from the rest of their teammates. I attended about 30 games in Durham that year and it was obvious that Young, Dukes, and Upton were going their own way. All three of them had off-the-field issues in Durham (and that's not even considering what happened on the field with Young). It got to a point where at the end of the year Bulls' management reportedly insisted on a housecleaning and assurances that they'd never have that type of situation again; the Rays nearly lost the affiliation.

Amaro: Hope is Young will be everyday RF. Then says he may start year on DL.

And some people keep defending Amaro.

I don't care if he signed for a ham sandwich and offered to wash Amaro's car 3 times a week. Starting Young in RF every day is asinine and thought process that led to this decision is/was asinine. I hope he gets 500 ABs this year so I can read a steady stream of articles about how his veteran presence helped stabilize the youngsters in the OF... all the while seeing only passing mention of his .290 OBP.

Benji, I want to see Brown healthy and given a real shot before I declare him a bust. If there was ever a year to find out, it's this one, but Amaro is behaving as though he agrees with you.

We might see the all under-100 OPS+ OF this year, with cumulative below average defense. Uncle Chollie has not shown the ability to maximize the talents of limited players. This team is the antithesis of a throw 'em out there and let 'em play team that UC handles best.

We might see the all under-100 OPS+ OF this year, with cumulative below average defense. Uncle Chollie has not shown the ability to maximize the talents of limited players. This team is the antithesis of a throw 'em out there and let 'em play team that UC handles best.

Who was the manager who won all those games with the Tigers platooning at almost every position? Can we get him in as a coach specializing in playing time optimization?

Young and Dukes were teammates at Charleston in 2004 until Dukes was promoted (somewhat mysteriously, since he wasn't playing particularly well) to Bakersfield in mid-season. In 2005 they were teammates again at Montgomery; this time it was Young that was promoted in mid-season and Dukes who stayed behind even though Dukes was probably deserving of a promotion as well, certainly more so than a year earlier. In 2006 Young and Dukes were together again in Durham, along with BJ Upton, and on the field the three of them were (a) inseparable and (b) completely separated from the rest of their teammates. I attended about 30 games in Durham that year and it was obvious that Young, Dukes, and Upton were going their own way.

That is an interesting story. BJ has also obviously had his share of questions as well. To me Young's performance issues seem to spring from the same well as his off the field issues - it seems like it all just came so easily for him that he never had to make any adjustments. He never had to refine his approach (i.e. learn some plate discipline) because he was a good enough hitter naturally that he could always succeed just hacking away.

Tampa Bay's had its share of miscreants over the years, including Josh Hamilton back in his drug-haze days. They've acquired Matt Bush and Josh Lueke in recent years, and three guys in their lower minors got busted for meth last August.

I am astonished to see DY get a job w/a non DH team. He is a terrible OF; slow, takes awful routes, won't go near the warning track, etc. His arm, once good, is average at best, WS blooper film NWS. Going to RF to boot is ludicrous. His bat is, well, what you would expect from an average middle IF with a little pop. Delmon is the classic uncoachable loafer. He has all the God-given talent in the world and everything came easily. All his coaches and managers and even his brother told him that talent wasn't enough, that to make it as a big leaguer he would need to work. And he said right and poured himself another cold one. He hasn't done anything with his skills. He still swings at the first pitch constantly, close or not. He's out of shape, gives away ABs like crazy, and generally leaves you pulling your hair out. The Tigers saw him for two months in 2011 and then he turned it on in the playoffs, so they re-upped him for 2012. He was awful all year and then "bore down" again in the post-season. Detroit had seen enough. But to people who haven't had him he is the tease; he could get in shape, he's only 27, he can hit a pitch off his shoe tops 450 feet, WE could be the ones to reach him and get lightning in a bottle, etc. The trouble is it won't happen. To their credit the Phillies got him for cheap. To their discredit, they don't need him, even for free. Some Detroit fans are saying today that hey for 750 Gs we could have kept him for a platoon partner for Dirks. I'd rather have Dirks hit the lefties, thanks anyway.